Treason - The Intel
by dohaihoangnam
Summary: Part 2 of Treason series on WordPress and AO3. After the explosion of the MI6 building, Q begins developing feelings for James. Unbeknownst to him, James is feeling the same for Q. But no relationship works without someone in between. Cue Nolan. Rated T for language. Un-beta'd. Enjoy!


Q opened his eyes slightly to find the harsh white light of his hospital room shooting back. He screwed his eyes shut once more. He always hated hospitals. He was there so many times as a child he hated them.

He remembered the events of last night: the Prime Minister's public interview, the explosion, the large block of concrete hitting his head. _Oh, so that's the headache was about._

Q reached up to his forehead and touched it to find a soft piece of fabric wrapped tightly around his forehead. When he touched it, it hurt. It hurt like a hammer banged on his forehead. And he knew how_ that_ could hurt.

He could sense another person inside his hospital room due to his low-weight-induced heightened senses. So he tried to turn his head to the left to find no one. He then turned his head to the right to find 007 lounging in the chair a few feet from his bed, eyes peacefully closed in a quiet sleep. He was snoring quietly with that mouth of his.

His heart fluttered at the sight. He had to admit, he was feeling particularly partial to MI6's best agent, no matter how irritated Bond made him feel. He would make _anything_ James asks for, no matter how much of M's budget will cost him.

Well, not _anything_.

He still hasn't made that exploding pen Bond wanted, yet. But, he'll get to that later.

But he will never, ever, _ever_, admit that it was a crush. He had too much pride for all that shit.

Well, maybe a little one.

Wait, why did he say that? It's way too unprofessional, even if he's not at work.

He sighed rather loudly. That must've woken Bond up as Q heard a rustle of clothing from the right side from the bed as he tried to fall into the comfort of sleep once more. He heard footsteps coming louder and louder as the person making them inched closer to Q's bed. "Q," Bond called out.

Being the gentleman he is, he smiled at the agent. "Good morning, 007," he greeted the Double-Oh.

"Do you want me to report to M?" 007 asked Q.

"Um, no. As you see, I'm having a major headache." He pointed to his forehead - or rather the bandage _around _his forehead. "I would much appreciate the sleep."

Q opened his eyes wide the next time around, already gotten used to the light. It was his face that attracted attention from the Quartermaster, or rather the bandage around his forehead similar to Q's. "You have one, too," Q said to the agent.

"What do you mean?" Bond furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Then, he realised what Q was talking about. "Ah, the bandage," 007 continued. "I got a piece of debris in my head. But it's all okay now. But, with you..." Bond trailed off.

"What?" Q asked the agent. "What's with me?"

"I better let the doctor tell you. I'm not good with all this... medical things." He turned on his heel and started walking towards Q's hospital room door. "Take care, 'kay? And eat. You'll need it."

Q was too choked up with all the fluttering his belly was suffering that the only thing he could do was nod and smile. Bond returned both gestures and left the room.

"What was I doing in there?" James asked himself when he was outside Q's hospital room. He had to admit, since Skyfall, he had a little soft spot for Q. You know, that soft spot that makes you wanna make everything good happen for someone and protect that person and all that shit.

Wait, is it what... love is? He had no idea. It had been too long since he fell in love to know. He usually just pick out women and just fuck them. He wasn't familiar with not having someone he's not attracted to not feeling the same way.

He was just a few steps from the elevator when he was met by a panting Eve Moneypenny, probably from frantic running. "James," she said between pants. "Has Q woken up yet?"

"He just woke up so I think he's gonna need some rest. But I don't think there are signs of amnesia, so I guess it's fine if you wanna speak to him," came the long answer from the agent.

Eve raised her left eyebrow in confusion. She did _not_ understand anything at all. James might have noticed the gesture and shortened the answer, "He's fine."

She made a perfect "oh" at her mouth and James understood the expression. He continued walking away until he was in front of the lift when he turned around to face Eve. "Just," he trailed off. "Don't drag work to him."

"I certainly won't," Eve responded. It's not like Bond's crush for Q was a secret to Moneypenny.

Eve walked towards Q's hospital room quickly, dying to see his situation. However, her eyes were met with a shocking sight,

As soon as Bond left the room, Nolan came in, much to Q's surprise. "Nolan," Q called out, voice full of shock.

"Q," he said while running towards Q's bed. "Are you alright?"

"Are you blind?" Q asked with sarcasm. "Do you even see me clearly?" He huffed, as well.

Nolan chuckled. Even at a state like this, he could make snarky comments without regret. "Um, there's something I need to tell you, if you don't mind," Nolan said.

"No, of course not," Q said. "Have a seat."

Nolan nodded and proceeded to sitting himself down on the sole chair in the room. "Do you remember Tech Bootcamp, '94?" he asked the Quartermaster.

Said Quartermaster furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, clearly expressing that he doesn't remember, or rather what to remember of it.

Nolan smiled at the sight. Confused Q always entertained, as Q was rarely confused, neither in his childhood nor now. "That time when you broke your arm," Nolan reminded Q.

Q dipped his head and smiled. Of course he remembered. It was one of the most memorable moments in his life. Nolan was also Q's first crush. Like he was ever gonna tell Nolan that. "You said you'd like to kiss my bandage to make it feel better," the Quartermaster said before giggling for a while.

Now it was Nolan's turn to dip his head. Was Q playing with his emotions and laughing at his feelings. Oh, right, he didn't know. Or did he? "I wasn't just joking with you," Nolan said.

"Hmm?" Q hummed, clearly confused.

"Q, ever since that day, I was head over heels for you. I couldn't get you out of my head, even years later I'll never forget you. I know you might think that I'm crazy, but just please don't."

Q opened his mouth to say something, but was soon silenced by Nolan's lips. Nolan's lips were surprisingly soft. And moist. Although those lips were at his preference, he didn't feel any spark with Nolan. Well, he used to, but that spark died long ago, most likely when he became the Quartermaster of MI6 a few years ago. He didn't remember. And he never would.

The two men separated after about six seconds. Nolan let out a long sigh. "So, take care... Quinn," Nolan said.

"You're still gonna help me with this, right?" the other man asked Nolan.

"Of course, you silly bastard," Nolan responded with a smug voice.

"Take care."

It wasn't very much later when R rushed into Q's hospital room with the words, "Q, we have a problem."

"Get Nolan back in here. Then send it in," Q said before bringing his laptop closer to him.

"Q, what's going on? What do we have?" Nolan asked between pants, probably because rushing up the stairs to Q's floor.

"We got another hit," was Q's simple answer. His fingers were once again flying over the keyboard at rapid fire speed. Nolan went over to Q's bed to peek over at what's happening at Q's laptop at that moment. Lines of codes would just go on and on and on, faster than _Nolan_ had ever approached. He was feeling threatened. Not by the enemy. But by Q.

He was worried his talent might not match Q's.

"Nolan," Q called out. "Earth to Nolan. Come in Nolan."

Nolan pulled himself out of his thoughts and snapped back into reality. "Yeah?" Nolan asked.

"I _kind of_ need your help here," Q answered.

"Oh, right." Nolan immediately took out his iPad and made quick work of hacking into the MI6 server. It was a lot harder since Q was made Quartermaster, the security systems were oddly loose before that. Nevertheless, he got in. However, the notice on Q's laptop came in almost immediately after. "Normally I would mind, but I'm too tangled up in something right now to care," Q said after the beep came from his laptop.

Nolan smiled. He then examined the lines of code that were red, that indicated him those were made by the program. Something felt familiar to him. Very familiar, in fact.

_Carrion._

"Q," Nolan called out. "I think I know what this is."

"Then what is it?" Q asked without looking back at the other man or even slowing down his fingers on the keyboard.

"It's a dangerous program. Very," was the short answer that came from Nolan.

"What does it do?" Q asked while keeping his eyes glued to the computer screen and his fingers flying at the speed of light above his keyboard.

"For now, it can cut the electricity of a city the size of New York."

Right at that moment, all the lights went off inside the hospital, leaving the light of Q's his laptop screen and Nolan's iPad shining their faces. "Talk about time," Q said sarcastically.

Nolan shrugged. Barely a few seconds later, the emergency electricity came up and the hospital lighted up again. "Come on. Hurry up and finish this thing," Q said.

Unbeknownst to them, outside the hospital, the crowd was already gathering outside. The press wasn't too far behind, either. "This is Rick Remming reporting from BBC News. London is now frantic again when another power outage, previously encountered just last week, spreads across London," one of the many reporters on the site said. "MI6 staff members are reportedly inside Gordon Hospital right now, probably recovering from injuries sustained from last week's explosion."

Five seconds later, a black Jaguar with a label everyone in Britain knows it's the Prime Minister's pulls up on the side of the pavement in front of the hospital. Out walks Prime Minister Andrew Cameron along with two bodyguards on each side and M hot on his heels. The journalists started abandoning the crowd at the hospital doorstep and running towards the Prime Minister. There were many voices the PM can hear but there was one loud voice that he could hear in particular. Rick Remming the Infamous, as nicknamed by the government and pretty much everyone in Britain. Not by himself, he'll have you know.

"Sir, can you tell us what might've happened today?" Remming said, not even trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

The PM turned around to answer Remming's question. "Ladies and gentlemen, as I have said before, we still do not know anything about the situation nor do we know anything about its perpetrator and purpose. The Secret Service is working hard to search for facts of either of the said, and so is Scotland Yard. I would kindly like to ask all of you to leave the people to their work. Thank you very much."

As usual, the request didn't help any matters. The reporters still shouted out questions to the Prime Minister as he walked inside. Outside, Remming was feeling frustrated. He was used to getting the answers whenever he wanted, and now, not getting one, he was pissed. He ran towards the glass doors of the hospital but was soon stopped by the security guards that just appeared when the PM walked in. "Sir, you have to leave, this place is in lockdown," one of the guards said.

Remming swatted the guard's hands off him. "Don't fucking touch me," he said before pushing people out of the way for him to leave.

Inside, Andrew Cameron was walking quickly towards the reception desk, which was oddly very far away from the doors. However, he knew the hospital well enough to know a shortcut, and arrived in just forty-five seconds. "Excuse me, do you know where Quinn Holmes' room is?" the PM asked the young receptionist sitting at the other side of the table to Andrew.

"Mister Holmes is in room 310. You take the lift to the third floor and then turn right. 310 is the last room down the hall, to your left side," the lady answered.

"Thank you very much," he thanked the young lady and walked past the desk to reach the lift. He was thankful of the fact that it was empty. Once he was in, he punched the button that wrote "3" and closed the door. He then waited till the distinct ding of the elevator sounded. He quickly walked out of the lift and turned right at the intersection. He continued walking down the hall until he was facing the door that got "310" written on it. He opened the door with a bit too much force that made it contact the wall on the other side with a loud bang that had both men inside the room looking up from their respective monitors.

"Could someone tell me what is going on that had London going more frantic than the bloody parades?" the PM asked loudly while carefully obscuring Q's direct superior with his large frame.

"Nolan will talk to you in a moment, as it was apparently _his_ program," Q answered. "But we're trying to solve the problem here. And I can see you, M."

"You should be resting right now, Quartermaster," M said before ducking down to try to escape Cameron's shadow.

"No one can do the things I do better than I do, save for Nolan," came the answer from the Quartermaster. "So he and I are lending MI6 a helping hand. No thanks needed."

"If you think we are going to thank you for giving such a _temporary_ solution last time and maybe this time, too, I would like to confirm that no thanks will ever reach you," the PM snapped.

"The problem will not end if the enemy still has the program," Nolan jumped into the conversation.

The room fell back into complete silence, save for the clicking of Q's keyboard, once more. After about a minute, the silence and the standing became much too uncomfortable for the two older men, and went to find chairs to sit. They quickly found two chairs on the other side to Q's bed and pulled them in the direction of Nolan and Q with as little noise as possible. They sat down gently and watched the two other men work.

It was not until thirty minutes later that Nolan and Q fixed the problem with a sigh of relief. "All done," Nolan said, breaking the previous silence. The Prime Minister stood up first, soon followed by M. He watched the Prime Minister leave and followed suit. But not before turning around and saying "We three will have a conversation next morning in my office."

Ronson laughed sarcastically.

His laugh was full of irony when he saw that the virus he created was, again, smashed by the Quartermaster and another IP address that he couldn't recognise. But, he was crushed, anyway.

He had to do something that would surprise everyone. Very surprising. Something that would shock the Quartermaster and whoever helped him off their comfort zone.

He had to think deeply about this one. It can't be something shallow. It has to cut deep.

He grunted at the thought. Sometimes he wished he didn't have this revenge-y personality and could live a normal life. But now's too late. He's in too deep to back off now.

"Babe, I'm home," Rick Remming's voice sounded a little more grumpy than usual. _Tough day at work?_, he thought.

He walked out of the bedroom and went straight to the sofa. "Tough day?" Rick asked. It was strange that Rick was the one who asked him, when it should be him asking Rick.

"Just a frustrating day," Ronson answered. Remming flopped down the sofa next to Hunter (his name is Hunter Ronson). Hunter took the chance to cuddle up to his boyfriend.

"Well, the road to revenge is tough, love," Rick said. "But you'll make it."

"I know," Hunter said. "I'm just... run out of ideas."

"Take something from them. Something valuable."

That idea sparked inside Hunter's head and spread all over his body with want to make that idea a reality. Quinn took everything away from him and now he was ready to take it back. He ran back to the bedroom and went to type just a few more lines of code. Hunter was done after just half a minute.

"MI6, prepare to be go down," Hunter said as he pressed ENTER to release the virus.

"So you're telling me that _you_ were the one who created the program that caused all this shit?" M asked loudly, almost _too_ loudly.

Nolan felt too guilty so all he could do was nod. In fact, he felt guilty to all present in the room. M, the Prime Minister, Q, Mycroft Holmes - Q's brother; he felt guilty to all of them.

Q, however, wasn't paying much heed to the conversation, preferring to type soundly on his laptop. He was doing what he would usually do when he had nothing to do: hacking and checking if everything was there. He was so into his work that he never noticed M calling for him. "Q? Q!" M said.

The Quartermaster was yanked out of his work and back to reality. He was, of course, confused in what they were talking about. "Has the program made any damage or losses to the MI6 database?" M asked, clearly frustrated of Q not paying attention to any of the conversation.

"I'm not sure," the Quartermaster answered. "Let me check." Q's face expression was normal at first, but his eyes widened, some, five minutes into looking at his laptop.

"What's wrong, Q?" Nolan asked, breaking the almost silence that was previously there.

Q swallowed hard before answering. "We lost the CAOL file," he answered.

Now it was the PM and M's turn to widen their eyes. As usual, he did not understand what they were talking about. "What is the CAOL file?" Nolan asked, walking over to the three men at Q's chair.

"Confidential Agents and Operations List. This is the list that none of our companion nations know about and never should.

"The list contains a record of all agents and operations ever ordered by superiors and performed by agents. A majority of the agents and operations featured in that list is still very deep inside and still in progress. If this list gets into the wrong hands, England might - _will_ - become even more dangerous than Syria is now." The Prime Minister winced at M's answer. He didn't appear to be oblivious of the situation. But the actual existence of the list still shocked him, from the first time he heard about the list until now.

PM Cameron sighed. "So is there any way that we can retrieve it back?" he asked Q.

"I'm afraid not, sir," the Quartermaster answered. "We _could_ track back to when and where the signal came from. But it was clearly masked."

"Why do you think that? We should never eliminate the possibilities so early," Nolan jumped in.

"It says here the signal came from _my laptop_, and I clearly remember locking the door before going out to the speech. So even if someone forgot to lock down Q-branch at lunch break, they also have to solve the puzzle for my office password. And _that_ will take forever, I guarantee you."

M rubbed the bridge of his nose. Clearly, he was too tired to participate in this conversation. "Okay," M said rather loudly. "Whatever you all have to say right now, you can say it tomorrow. We all need rest from this tiring day, especially you, Q. So I strongly suggest that we all get some rest and come back fresh tomorrow morning. Nolan, I'll talk to Reception to get you a Visitor pass. You ought to be good use around here."

"Thank you, sir," Nolan said before joining Q, Mycroft and the Prime Minister to exit M's office.

"This is Rick Remming reporting for BBC News. This just in: a video was released on YouTube claiming to have leaked a set of Her Majesty's Secret Service agents and operations. You can take a look of the video on our website: . Neither the Prime Minister nor the Secret Service's superiors have commented about the issue."


End file.
